Well, we needed to wait for a few minutes back at the store to collect a few folks that were getting the rest of their nine in before we could head back out. A number of us are training for Eugene and so, we needed to run another 11 today after our PMTC Group run.

That gave me some time to get a little fuel and discuss with Kate the course options. We decided that running her local course would be best for all of us, since most of us had not done this route and really wanted a nice run through Tualatin¹s "flatter" areas.

Once we collected everyone, we took off directly from the store front and on to Nyberg road, over the freeway and down into the village known as Tualatin.

You know it is just not fair that the local eateries are cooking while we run by. Now we are all thinking about food and still have another 10 to go. Well, I guess it is past the halfway point, but since only one of us actually knew the route, our minds would play all kinds of tricks on us this day. We all "think" we are starting from the beginning. Several times along the way, runners would ask: "How much further?" or "How far have we gone?"

With little information about the route, many of us were stuck on food the entire 11 miles.

But we got down into the park trails and out into the neighborhoods of Tualatin and Tigard. Indeed, the path was well groomed in the trees, there were concrete sidewalks in the parks and very nice walkways throughout. There was this nice shaded, asphalt trail about mid-way that was filled with tree roots growing under the asphalt but only the two steep hills slowed us down. In fact, once Kate and I dropped back, I think the pace got faster. But only for a
little while.

So, this was an out and back for 11 miles via a 5.5 mile turn just before we got to Hall Boulevard just outside of King City. I guess it always amazes me that while we run routes like Esplanade and Spring Water, Wildwood etc, we just really have no concept of how FAR 5.5 miles is until you do something like run to the next county line or next city. So once we ran
through King City of a while and hit Hall to turn around, it hit me as to just how far we run every day.

But the best part of this run is that unbeknown to most of us, this had been 5.5 miles of a steady up hill climb. So now when we turned around and headed back into King City, I could covet the golf clubs that person was using, or appreciate that barbeque being fired up. What a nice, well-appointed neighborhood.

Once through the short segment through Tigard we were easily trotting along on the wooded trail again and up onto the baseball/soccer fields. And as we ran back into the wild preserve area, we now noticed the WES lite-rail concrete trellis and the surrounding structure to support it and how quiet it was. Funny, how we spend all that money on something that doesn't run on
weekends.

But then we were quickly back into the Nature Preserve Park and the nice bark dust pathway. Boy does that trail feel good after all those sidewalks and road surfaces. And once near the entrance to the park, the old wooded train trellis majestically stands. What a well-built structure that seems like a monument to the past.

But we are back on to the roads of Tualatin now and my feet are not happy about the surface changes. New shoes, maybe, but our feet liked the bark dust trails and didn't like the last mile of sidewalk.

The group moved smoothly through the town as Kate directs us from the middle of the pack until we get to Nyberg road. At this point, a few decide to pick up the pace and head for home. The rest of us know that Eugene is just a few days away and stay on pace. We all catch up at the light on the freeway overpass. And once given the green, we head back into the shopping
plaza and straight to Road Runner Sports where we had started.

Funny, now I know that we shouldn't be concerned if one watch says 10.9, another 11.1 and another 10.7. But some of us were more concerned than others and chose to run around the parking lot to ensure they get at least 11. I just dont understand how we can be 5.5 at the turn and less than 5.5 at the end, even on GPS. But it happens. I won't go into that accuracy
discussion ... you're welcome.